The weather across the United States is in split personality mode, with the eastern half of the United States experiencing an early fall deep freeze with temperatures as low as 30 degrees below normal while the Pacific Northwest is sweltering under record-breaking heat.
Fox Weather is reporting the coldest air of the season since April is enveloping the Gulf Coast and even the Florida Panhandle as a chilly Canadian air mass descends on the region prompting freeze alerts.
A lake effect snow storm clobbered Wisconsin, dumping 18 inches of snow in a town bordering Michigan. The National Weather Service issued frost advisories for more than 90 million Americans across the Midwest, South and East.
The freeze warnings mean an early end to the growing season, even as far south as Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Snow in October: In east Tennessee, which typically does not see its first snow of the season until mid November or December, there was snow falling to the surprise of residents.
“Tuesday night will be the coldest night … with all locations expected to be below freezing,” the weather service in Nashville said, according to CNN. “Even Nashville metro should freeze.”
The blast of cold is shattering records in multiple states, according to the Washington Post.
It reported that dozens of record lows were set from Minnesota to Texas on Tuesday morning, with temperatures dipping into the teens and 20s. Des Moines, Omaha and Kansas City were among locations that set record lows.
The baking West: In the meantime, particularly in California and the Pacific Northwest, heat records are being broken.
Seattle logged 88 degrees on Sunday, the highest temperature on record so late in the season, the Washington Post reported.
The Post said the National Weather Service in Portland warned Friday that conditions were “favorable” for “rapid fire spread.” It urged residents to obey all burn restrictions and advised against motor vehicles idling over dry grass.
The National Weather Service in Salt Lake City is reporting mild temperatures in the 70s for northern Utah, but is warning of a pending weather change over the weekend in which residents may see some mountain snow.
Welcome to fall.